Shmuel Thaler

Staff Photographer at Santa Cruz Sentinel

I am the 2016 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year and have been a staff photographer at the Santa Cruz Sentinel since 1987.

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Articles

Photo | A jog with a view in Santa Cruz

1 week ago | sanluisobispo.com | Shmuel Thaler

The Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and West Cliff Drive are visible at top as a person scampers across the outcropping above the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. The flowers blazing pink on the clifftop are from ice plants above Seabright State Beach. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Photo | A jog with a view in Santa Cruz

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

The Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and West Cliff Drive are visible at top as a person scampers across the outcropping above the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. The flowers blazing pink on the clifftop are from ice plants above Seabright State Beach.
Photos | Riding a wave at Steamer Lane

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

Healey Skelton walks down her board as gentle and glassy waves rolled into Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz Thursday morning. The surf forecast calls for the swell to build and peak on Sunday with wave faces increasing to around 6 feet. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)The top of the kelp forest rises in a backlit wave at low tide on Thursday at Steamer Lane.
Photos | Iconic buildings in Santa Cruz glow with rainbow colors for Pride

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

The Santa Cruz County Government Center glowed with a prismatic rainbow Tuesday night as the local Pride Week kicked off with Pride IllumiNight. The event included a celebratory rally and march and the illumination of six iconic buildings in the city. June marks the 50th anniversary of Santa Cruz Pride, one of the oldest pride celebrations nationwide. The first local Pride event took place in 1975, and the first Santa Cruz Pride Parade traveled down Pacific Avenue in 1977.
Photo | Avian flock glide over Lighthouse Point waves

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

A flock of birds fly in rhythm as a wave crashes at Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz.
Eli Fitchen-Young on track for state championship

1 week ago | fresnobee.com | Shmuel Thaler

Santa Cruz senior Eli Fitchen-Young, a Duke University commit, leads Menlo senior Landon Pretre midway through the boys 3200-meter race at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High School on Saturday. Fitchen-Young took third in the blazing quick event with an 8:57.83 score behind Pretre and Piedmont Hills senior Yosef Berhan. With the finish, Fitchen-Young qualified for next week's State Championship.
Photo | Eli Fitchen-Young on track for state championship

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

Santa Cruz senior Eli Fitchen-Young, a Duke University commit, leads Menlo senior Landon Pretre midway through the boys 3200-meter race at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High School on Saturday. Fitchen-Young took third in the blazing quick event with an 8:57.83 score behind Pretre and Piedmont Hills senior Yosef Berhan. With the finish, Fitchen-Young qualified for next week’s State Championship.
Photo | Flyover honors fallen servicemembers over Memorial Day weekend

1 week ago | sanluisobispo.com | Shmuel Thaler

Continuing a holiday weekend tradition, local pilots based at Watsonville and San Martin airports fly their planes in formation over Santa Cruz County on Saturday. The loosely organized group of pilots regularly train together and are known as the West Coast Ravens. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers. This story was originally published May 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM.
Photo | Flyovers honor fallen servicemembers over Memorial Day weekend

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

Continuing a holiday weekend tradition, local pilots based at Watsonville and San Martin airports fly their planes in formation over Santa Cruz County on Saturday. The loosely organized group of pilots regularly train together and are known as the West Coast Ravens.
Photo | New Coastal Rail Trail enhances community connectivity

1 week ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Shmuel Thaler

Cyclists cast shadows this week where the Coastal Rail Trail Segment 7 curves to its end near the Pacific Avenue/Beach Street roundabout at the entrance to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Wednesday morning the community celebrated the opening of Phase II of the section, which now forms a continuous 2.1-mile multi-use path from Natural Bridges Drive to the wharf.